Trump defense formally asks N.Y. judge to terminate gag order – The Washington Post
The former president’s attorneys argued in a 21-page motion made public on Wednesday that Trump must be able to speak freely as a presidential debate nears and as his rivals discuss his legal issues during a peak time in his 2024 campaign.
NEW YORK — Donald Trump formally argued that a limited gag order in his falsifying-records case must be lifted post-verdict as a presidential debate nears and as his rivals continue to speak about his legal predicament during a peak time in his 2024 campaign.
Attorneys for Trump argued in a 21-page motion filed Monday that the former president is getting hit with a barrage of attacks from adversaries and from a pair of witnesses who testified against him. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan issued a limited gag order before Trump’s six-week criminal trial, citing grave safety concerns, but Trump and his attorneys argued his rights were being trampled on.
“President Trump’s opponents and adversaries are using the Gag Order as a political sword to attack President Trump with reference to this case, on the understanding that his ability to mount a detailed response is severely restricted by the Gag Order,” Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the motion, which was made public Wednesday.
Biden and Trump are scheduled to participate in presidential debates June 27 and Sept. 10.
Merchan barred Trump from talking about individuals involved in the case and some of their families members. The order remained in place after Trump’s May 30 conviction. Trump violated the order 10 times during the trial, incurring a $1,000 fine per offense, and was threatened with incarceration if he were to do so again — which he did not.
Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York Supreme Court in a historic case that brought an unprecedented complication to the campaign of the presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s election. In less than two full days of deliberations, a jury found Trump purposely concealed the nature of a $130,000 reimbursement to his former lawyer Michael Cohen in 2016.
Cohen paid adult-film actress Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter that was potentially going to be made public weeks before the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued that Trump called his reimbursements to Cohen “legal fees” to hide what they were to protect his campaign. He did not disclose the expense in disclosure forms.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. He faces up to four years in prison, but incarceration is not mandatory.
Prosecutors have repeatedly cited an urgent and continuing need to protect people related to the case, including the judge’s family, after Trump’s rhetoric resulted in safety concerns. Trump was still free to speak about Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office handled the case. He routinely did so and continues to speak about them at campaign events and in social media posts.
Trump and his lawyers have argued consistently that their client has a right to defend himself publicly and to exercise free speech as the leading Republican candidate for president in this year’s election. The motion claims that Trump’s foes have weaponized his conviction and have taken advantage of his inability to respond.
Biden “offered a disturbing grin” to news cameras when asked to comment about the verdict, the lawyers argued, and they also said Cohen and Daniels publicly attacked the candidate and his qualifications “based on their deeply biased views about the evidence and to make even more money for themselves.”
Bragg’s office said in a letter to Merchan last week that it opposes an immediate termination of the order, and it formally responded to the defense’s new bid. Prosecutors said Merchan “has an obligation to protect the integrity of these proceedings and the fair administration of justice at least through the sentencing hearing and the resolution of any post-trial motions.”
Donald Trump is the first former president convicted of a crime.
Can Trump still run for president? Yes. He is eligible to campaign and serve as president if elected, but he won’t be able to pardon himself. Here’s everything to know about next steps, what this means for his candidacy and the other outstanding trials he faces.
What happens next? Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11. He faces up to four years in prison, but legal experts say incarceration appears unlikely. Trump has 30 days to file notice of an appeal of the verdict and six months to file the full appeal.
Reaction to the verdict: Trump continued to maintain his innocence, railing against what he called a “rigged, disgraceful trial” and emphasizing voters would deliver the real verdict on Election Day.
The charges: Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Falsifying business records is a felony in New York when there is an “intent to defraud” that includes an intent to “commit another crime or to aid or conceal” another crime.